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Dolly Parton is the rare American celebrity who is loved by almost everyone. In her recent Billboard interview, she uses that singular platform to discuss George Floyd’s protests this summer. According to the magazine, “Parton has not yet attended marches, but she is untimely in her support of Protestants and the Black Lives Matter movement.” The singer says, ‘I understand that people need to make themselves known and feel and be seen. And of course, Black case lives on. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones who matter? No!”
Parton also discusses her 2018 decision to remove the word “Dixie” from her dinner attraction Dixie Stampede, who has productions in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and Branson, Missouri. The show, featuring horse gardens, musical productions, and competitions in the vein of a Medieval Times, is now called Dolly Parton’s Stampede. Parton apparently dropped the term for the same reason the Dixie Chicks are, like this summer, just the Chicks. Namely that “Dixie” serves as a romantic nickname that glorifies the slave-holding Confederate South, rather than reckons with it.
“When they said ‘Dixie’ was an insulting word, I thought, ‘Well, I do not want to offend anyone,’ ‘the singer explains.’ This is a business. We’ll just call it the Stampede. ‘ realize [something] is a problem, you need to fix it. Do not be dumb. That’s where my heart is. I would never dream of hurting someone on purpose. ”You can read her full interview here.
